Founder and CEO of Payoff, Scott Saunders, sees a problem that’s been echoing through our lives for a while now. “People are falling apart under the weight of their debts, and indicators are everywhere that this is making us a very unhealthy country,” he says. It’s a problem that affects Americans no matter their age, race, sex or creed, and it’s not getting enough attention.
Saunders continues, “On average, we carry about $16,000 per person in credit card debt and the chronic stress of this is harming us. This needs to change. Finance needs an overhaul to include more humanity with individuals’ financial wellness as the new metric to measure success at its center.”
He’s calling for a systemic change in the way banks, credit card companies and people view and interact with money to create an economy of saving and financial wellness.
“I believe the future well-being of America depends on making profound changes to this relationship with money. … Consumers have options in terms of what they buy and to who they owe money, and now it’s time to create services that actually encourage savings and wellness,” Saunders says.
But his main focus is talking to financial institutions, much like Payoff, that can and should do more to help each one of us on a personal level.
“How can we fix this?” he asks. “It starts with the financial industries committing to aligning the interests of individuals with a focus on well-being.”
Saunders says the problem is that the companies who help manage our money aren’t optimizing their services for how each one of us views our finances. They don’t cater to our unique histories and personalities.
“Missing from finance is the drive to work with people to make a better life for themselves, and if we demand it, we can change banking for good.”
Learn more about what the industry is doing wrong and how it should increase its focus on the individual by reading Saunders’ post “Debt and Our Future Well-being” over on Medium.
